Discovering Black
by everyflavorblackinnon
Summary: Post-Hogwarts. Marlene McKinnon has been forced into marriage with the infamous Regulus Black. However, McKinnon's curiosity sparks when she discovers the other Black of the family...
1. Chapter 1: Mischievous Beginnings

Chapter 1:

Mischievous Beginnings

* * *

"Marlene Maude McKinnon!"

The shriek could have been heard three houses down. But that didn't stop the 7-year-old, practically unfazed by the shrill that echoed around her. She had a perfect view of the source of the noise. Blonde hair neatly tied up into a sophisticated bun, the woman in her mid thirties wore a respectful navy dress, reaching to the ends of her heels, stubbornly holding the dress up, and avoiding any contact with the ground.

'Merlin forbid her dear dress get even the slightest bit of dust on it' thought the young girl, as her legs dangled from the branch, of a tall tree located in the small forest attached to the houses back garden. After many months of consideration, she was confident that she was carefully hidden behind the leaves and numerous branches of the trees.

A smile formed at the edge of the girl's lips as she noticed the flustered expression of the woman she called her mother. Noticing her mother walk back into the house, she grinned widely, and jumped up, balancing herself expertly on the branch, as she walked towards the tree trunk, and made her way down, branch by branch. Her feet dug into the moist earth underneath her, her patent black shoes sinking into the mud, Marlene McKinnon gave herself a proud smile, enjoying the thrill of disobedience, as she ran back home, her smile not once breaking.

After all, it takes a lot more than living with an over-dramatic, demanding and ridiculously Pureblood mother to break Marlene Maude McKinnon.

* * *

12 Grimmauld Palace was known as the home of one of the most prestigious Pureblood families – The Blacks. The famous parents, Orion and Walburga Black were known all across the Wizarding World, for having the longest family line of Purebloods. Sons to them were Sirius Orion Black and Regulus Arcturus Black.

The five year old raced after his older brother of two years across the corridor, pushing through the wooden door, poorly engraved with the scratching 'Sirius the Great', and collapsing on each other in excitement upon entering the room.

"You really oughtn't be doing this, Sirius." Regulus warned through his pressed lips, holding back his own anticipation as he sat up, straightening the formal suit he was dressed in.

"Don't be such a prick, Reg, it's just a silly little joke. Kreature wouldn't even care." Sirius responded as he pulled himself up, clothed in dress pants and a vest. "Now be useful and get the matches I nicked from father – they're in my trunk." He instructed, as he pulled a small tube out of his sock, holding it by the string attached.

Regulus rushed off to do as told, always having admired his older brother, while Sirius' smirk grew by the second. The seven year old propped himself up, and walked over towards his bedroom door, peeking his head out, checking to make sure the coast was clear, before motioning for his younger brother to pass him the matches.

Placing the tube between his teeth, Sirius took hold of the matchbox, taking out a match, and expertly lighting it, before dropping the box to the floor, pulling out the small tube and lighting the rope at the end.

Both boys watched eagerly as the fire made it's way closer and closer to the tube, before it finally came in contact, and exploded out of Sirius' hand, and flew down the stairs, the boys raced after it, stopping a the banister, leaning over and watching as their contraption exploded into a burst of snapping noises so loud, that the young boys had to cover their ears.

When they were sure that the snapping had come to a stop, they slowly dropped their hands back to their sides, before noticing a height and size difference of the victim who encountered their devilish prank.

"Sirius Orion Black!" a woman bellowed, earning a loud roar from the more mischievous of the Black boys, while the other went pale with fear.

* * *

**Alright, so that's my first chapter! Hope you all liked it, reviews would be appreciated because who doesn't like reviews?**

**This'll end up being a multi-chap fic, but I'm not sure on how long, or when I'll be able to upload new chapters.  
**


	2. Chapter 2: Handling The Cunning

Chapter 2:

Handling the Cunning

* * *

Marlene entered through the back door – certain her mother would not notice her, after all, not once had her mother stepped into the kitchens. Peeking through the mesh window of the door, she noticed the two house elves busy at work, scrambling from one side of the room to the other, the heavy smell of food cooking wafted through the room.

Certain her mother was nowhere in sight, she pushed through the door, making her way in, exploring the kitchen for a moment, in search of something sweet to nibble on.

"Oh my, missus!" one elf said as it almost bumped into her "I didn't notice you come in." the house elf muttered, keeping her gaze down, noticing the state of Marlene's shoes. "Missus, would you like Mitzy to clean them for you? Missus is getting late… and Missus' mother is getting terribly impatient with her…"

Marlene smiled at the last part, completely ignoring the rest of the house elves worries. "Isn't she always, Mitzy?" Marlene pointed out as she dragged a chair to the counter, climbing on it, and reaching to open one of the cupboards. "Mother would be awfully angry with my shoes, wouldn't she? Oi, where did all the chocolate frogs go?" Marlene frowned, looking down at the house elf, as she jumped, landing right in front of her.

"Missus finished them yesterday after she went playing outside," the house elf replied, obediently.

"Ah.." Marlene replied, "You ought to get more, Mitzy, we can't have no chocolate frogs in the house, now, can we? That would be disastrous!" Marlene exclaimed as she opened the fridge, noticing a beautifully decorated cake, and proceeded to scoop a finger full of the icing into her mouth. "Mm… anyway Mitzy, I'm off to mother before she sends Marcus and Mitchell off to find me!" Marlene informed as she skipped out of the kitchen, leaving the house elf smiling fondly behind her.

Stepping out of the kitchen, she removed her shoes, keeping them in hand as she raced towards the stairs, being careful as to not create too much noise as she did so. Noticing the stairs were free of people, she hopped from one step to the other, till she reached the third floor – where her room was located, along with those of her two brothers. Not hearing her mother on their level, she took her time, walking down the corridor, to her room.

Before she could make it to her own room, however, a head popped out of the door, fashioning blonde hair, slickly and handsomely gelled back, as a pair of blue eyes met Marlene's chocolate brown ones. "Hullo, Mitch." Marlene beamed at her 17-year-old stepbrother.

"Hullo Marley." He smiled as he stepped out of his room, dressed in a formal suit, a bowtie loosely hanging around his neck. He walked towards her, bending down to reach her height. "Now, I'm not going to suspect you've been out on one of your adventures, have you?" he asked playfully, sharing an obvious glance on her shoes.

"Oh, no, I would never!" Marlene replied, though she grinned widely. "And cause mother such an inconvenience when we have the annual Pureblood dinner tonight?" Marlene added, shaking her head.

"That's what I thought." He winked, as he stood back up. "You have about 12 minutes till her mother makes her appearance again, so if I were you I'd put on the dress she laid out for you," he advised. "Oh, the _pink_ one," he added, before chuckling, mussing up her hair, and disappearing back into his room.

Marlene groaned a childish groan upon hearing about the dress. She hated them; they were frilly and made it difficult to move in. She couldn't run in them, she would trip over, and they were ridiculously girly. Growing up with two sporty brothers, Marlene was never one to play with doll, or dress up in pretty clothes. She'd rather be dressed in her Chuddley Cannons Quidditch Suit, be practicing outside with her brothers.

Upon walking into her room, she noticed the pale pink dress, embroidered with pearls lying neatly on her bed, with a pair of clean white flats, along with a set of white opaque tights. Sighing, and noticing her strain on time, she removed her clothes, chucking her dirty shoes under her bed, and quickly set into wearing the clothes supplied for her. And with six minutes to go, she was sitting by her dresser, trying to brush out the knots from her long and wavy, brunette hair, which she'd inherited, much like her eyes, from her father.

At that moment, she heard her mother's voice getting closer, along with the sounds of her heels clicking as she made her way up the stairs. "Where is _she?_" her mother yelled in a clearly irritated voice. Marlene suppressed a large grin, concentrating on brushing her hair, as her door slammed open, and Marlene's head whipped towards it.

"Mother? Is everything alright?" she asked innocently, putting her brush down, as she stood up. By now, with the help of her brothers, Marlene had learned all she needed to know about lying, it was like a second nature to her.

Alexandria McKinnon raised an eyebrow at Marlene, her arms crossing "And where have you been?" she asked. "I came in here not more than twenty minutes ago and you were nowhere to be found. Do you not _realize_ that we have a reputation to hold? How would the other Pureblood families see us if we arrived late and ill dressed to the occasion-"

The door opened, cutting her mother off as Mitchell walked through, "Hello Alexandria, I hope I'm not interrupting anything," he directed to his stepmother, before turning to Marlene. "Thanks for helping me out with my tie earlier, Marley. You're right; the satin one looks much better. All ready to go?" he asked, earning an enthusiastic nod from Marlene.

"Almost," she replied, going over to her dresser, picking up the jewel clip by her brush, placing it carefully in her hair, as to push her hair out of her face. Finishing, she turned to her mother. "I'll be waiting downstairs with Mitchell and Marcus. Don't be late now, mother, we can't leave a bad impression on the other families!" she chuckled as she rushed past her mother, taking hold of her older brothers hand, pulling him out of the room with her, before her mother could reply.

* * *

Sirius' laughing continued as he heard the heavy thumping of Walburga Black's shoes ascend the staircase. Meanwhile, Regulus, pale, and stricken with fear, began to tug on the ends of Sirius' vest, mumbling "Sirius… mother isn't going to be happy.."

"I'm quite aware." He grinned. "Alright then, you go to your room, mother won't think you were part of it, anyway." He shrugged, pushing the young boy away from him, in the direction of his room.

Regulus examined him for a moment, wondering how Sirius could be so calm about it all. He'd always admired his brother's cunning schemes, and bravery, something he was well aware he didn't have. Hearing the final footsteps towards them, he gave his older brother a small nod, before rushing off into his room.

Sirius spotted the now messy blonde hair bouncing up the stairs. His eyes lowered to see the slightly plump woman, holding a ravenous expression on her face, earning a small smile on his end.

"Hello, mother." He smiled "You haven't seen my dress shirt, have you? Has Kreature flattened it out yet?" he asked.

"Sirius Orion Black!" she fumed "I have had enough of your foolish games!" She reached out, and took hold of his ear, pulling him along into his room, ignoring all of his protests.

"Mother- _Ouch!_ You're hurting me! _Owww!_" he whined.

Once she entered the room, she stood straight in front of him. "You will not pull any of these blasphemous stunts at this dinner do you understand me?" she said strictly. "You will not give shame to this family, and make the Proud and Noble House of Black be the humiliation of the night." She continued, "What will you do when we get there?"

Sirius kept his gaze on the floor, holding back the urge to rub his ear. "I will not speak until told to do so. I will listen to what you and father say, and will not create any embarrassment to the family. I will know my place and greet our family respectfully as The Noble House of Black. I will not do anything out of order, and I will not mention anything discussed at home. I will be polite to all of the others, and agree with anything the elders believe. If asked a question, I will answer as rehearsed," he mumbled.

Walburga nodded lightly "Correct. And if you disobey any of those rules, you will be punished accordingly," she reminded him. "We shall discuss your punishment for this mess once we arrive back. You must now get ready and meet the family downstairs in the next ten minutes," she said, turning around with another word, and heading out the door. As she did so, Sirius brought a hand up to his ear, rubbing it soothingly, as he stuck his tongue out at her back, making a face.

"Hello, mother," Sirius heard Regulus say as Walburga left his room. "Hello Regulus, be ready in ten minutes," she instructed, leaving Regulus to his own matters.

Regulus made his way cautiously into Sirius' room. "Sirius?" he asked quietly. "Are you alright?" he asked, worried.

"Of course I am, twerp." He grinned. "Give me a hand and find my jacket will you?" he asked, as he flopped onto his bed, sitting up, and grabbing his shirt laying on the edge of one of the bed posters, tugging it on.

"Here you go," Regulus said as he handed over Sirius is jacket. Upon taking the jacket from his, Sirius slid out of bed, pulling it on.

"Race you to the door,." he said, jacket half hanging off his shoulder as he grinned, and ran out of his room, and down the stairs, followed by a slower Regulus. "Hey! No fair, you started before me!"

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**Hope you enjoyed this chapter (was is long enough? I'm thinking of maybe making most of the chapters this long? It depends. What do you think?)**


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